H.R. 7977 — Energy Bills Relief Act

This section amends the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981 to expand the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which provides grants to states and localities to help low-income households pay heating and cooling costs. Specifically, it (1) revises regular LIHEAP funding under section 2602(b) to such sums as necessary to assist all eligible households and implement home energy affordability measures (striking prior $2 billion cap); (2) increases contingency funding under section 2602(e) to $2 billion for FY2026 and $2 billion plus necessary sums thereafter (from $600 million annually), including for major disasters; (3) authorizes $1 billion for FY2026 and $1 billion plus necessary sums thereafter under new section 2607C; (4) adds definitions for extreme heat, extreme cold, HEAP coordinator, local coordinating agency, and State agency; (5) expands emergency assistance under section 2604(e) to cover periods of extreme heat or cold (as determined by the Secretary), coordinates with FEMA, and requires state assurances allowing dual heating/cooling aid, no medical need requirement, and flexible uses (e.g., energy-efficient air conditioners); and (6) broadens household eligibility under section 2605(b)(2)(B) to incomes not exceeding the greater of 250 percent of the poverty level or 80 percent of state median income (replacing prior limits), mandates priority for households with elderly members, disabled members, children, high energy costs, or extreme weather vulnerability (changing from permissive), and prohibits exclusion based on household citizenship status.

This section revises the Department of Energy's Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP), which provides formula grants to states, tribes, and local agencies to install energy efficiency and related measures in low-income households' homes. Specifically, it (1) strikes subsection (k) of Section 414D and paragraph (4) of Section 415(c); (2) increases the average cost per dwelling unit limit to $12,000 (from $6,500); (3) clarifies the reweatherization limitation in Section 415(c)(2) by removing references to assistance under other federal programs or non-federal assistance; (4) establishes a new Weatherization Readiness Program under new Section 414F to provide grants to states, Indian tribes, and tribal organizations for structural, plumbing, roofing, electrical, and hazard remediation measures in low-income dwellings to enable subsequent WAP weatherization, with no savings-to-investment ratio requirement, allocation consistent with WAP funding, administrative costs capped at 15% (no more than half for state use), and $50 million authorized annually for FY2026 through FY2030; and (5) reauthorizes WAP through FY2030 (from FY2025).

This section establishes a Department of Energy program to provide rebates of $0.25 or $0.75 per square foot to eligible households for eligible cool roof products (i.e., those rated by the Cool Roof Rating Council) installed on low-sloped roofs (slope ≤2:12) or steep-sloped roofs (>2:12), based on 3-year aged solar reflectance, thermal emittance, or Solar Reflectance Index thresholds. Rebate amounts are $0.25 per square foot for products meeting lower thresholds (low-sloped: reflectance of 0.65 and emittance of 0.75, or SRI of 78; steep-sloped: reflectance of 0.25 and emittance of 0.75, or SRI of 23) and $0.75 per square foot for higher thresholds (low-sloped: reflectance of 0.75 and emittance of 0.75, or SRI of 92; steep-sloped: reflectance of 0.40 and emittance of 0.75, or SRI of 43). Eligible households reside in single- or multi-family buildings in ZIP codes at or above the 75th percentile of CDC's Heat and Health Index (or, for Alaska, Hawaii, and territories not yet covered, any such building) with income below 200% of HUD area median income. The section requires at least 40% of annual incremental energy savings to accrue to low-income or high energy burden households; allows combining rebates with other assistance; directs states and retail electricity suppliers to publish annual participation statements by income, demographics, savings, and health outcomes; terminates the program on September 30, 2030; requires a post-termination report to Congress on roof types retrofitted or replaced; and authorizes $25 million annually for FY2026 through FY2030.

This section requires an order from the Secretary of Energy authorizing the exportation of natural gas from the United States, eliminating the prior Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) requirement under the Natural Gas Act. (As background, the Natural Gas Act previously required FERC authorization for both natural gas imports and exports, with exports to free trade agreement nations deemed consistent with the public interest and approved without modification or delay.) The Secretary may issue such an order only upon finding, after a hearing, that the proposed exportation is consistent with the public interest—defined as not likely to (1) significantly contribute to climate change (based on a lifecycle greenhouse gas assessment using 20-year methane global warming potential, social cost of emissions, and consistency with net-zero pathways by 2050); (2) materially increase energy prices or volatility for U.S. consumers (based on an economic assessment covering low-income consumers, working families, small businesses, manufacturers, governments, fertilizer producers/users, and high-electricity-demand facilities such as data centers); or (3) create disproportionate cumulative burdens on Tribes and environmental justice communities (based on an assessment of preexisting environmental/health risks, fisheries, disparities, and civil rights compliance). The Secretary must complete the public interest finding within one year after the later of receiving FERC's final environmental impact statement or finishing required assessments, with opportunities for public participation in the process and related studies. The section also removes prior FERC export authorization requirements from existing import provisions and makes minor conforming changes to LNG terminal authorities.

This section expands eligibility under the Rural Energy Savings Program to include Indian tribes (as defined in 25 U.S.C. 5304), authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to provide grants to eligible entities receiving loans (up to 5% of the loan amount generally or 10% if used for qualified consumers in persistent poverty counties), permits eligible entities to use grant funds for specified costs (e.g., loan application and origination, property repairs, program contracts), increases the maximum term of loans to qualified consumers to the useful life of energy efficiency measures not exceeding 20 years (from 10 years), authorizes extensions of loan terms or repayment deadlines, adds outreach activities to the program's training and technical assistance provisions with dedicated funding, and reauthorizes the program through 2030 (from 2023). (The program enables rural utilities and other eligible entities to make loans to qualified consumers, such as low-income rural homeowners, to implement energy efficiency measures that reduce utility costs.)

This section directs the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), within 180 days of enactment, to initiate a rulemaking to revise the pro forma Large Generator Interconnection Procedures and, as appropriate, the pro forma Large Generator Interconnection Agreement. The rulemaking must (1) address inefficiencies in existing interconnection request processes for generation projects (i.e., facilities generating electricity subject to FERC jurisdiction) and energy storage projects (i.e., batteries, pumped storage, and similar technologies); (2) invalidate expedited processes adopted in 2025 or 2026 not in the pro forma agreement that use eligibility criteria disproportionately favoring natural gas and coal over wind, solar, and battery storage; and (3) require transmission providers to (i) use modeling assumptions based on actual resource operating abilities, (ii) study requests consistent with interconnection customer risk tolerance, (iii) establish simplified pathways for small-scale or community-based projects including distributed energy resources and low-income servings, (iv) select cost-effective reliability solutions, (v) disclose implementation details to customers, (vi) adopt queue best practices including AI, machine learning, and automation, and (vii) implement transparency measures considering advanced transmission technologies (i.e., dynamic line ratings, advanced conductors). FERC must issue a final rule within 12 months of enactment.

This section defines advanced transmission technology (i.e., hardware or software that increases the capacity, efficiency, reliability, resilience, or safety of transmission facilities, including dynamic line ratings, advanced conductors, and topology optimization) and directs the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to promulgate, not later than 18 months after enactment, a final rule implementing FPA §219(b)(3) (16 U.S.C. 824s(b)(3))—which encourages deployment of transmission technologies—through a shared savings incentive returning 10-25% of savings attributable to such investments (determined consistently across all eligible technologies, not on a case-by-case basis) to the developer over 10 years. (As background, FPA §219 requires FERC to establish incentive-based transmission rates to promote reliability, reduce congestion, and attract investment in facilities.) The incentive applies to developer investments in eligible advanced transmission technologies installed on new or existing facilities if expected savings over three years (net present value) are at least two times the investment cost (including permitting, installation, or purchase costs); it excludes already-installed technologies as of enactment and requires consumer protections. FERC may provide alternative incentives (e.g., performance-based rates, accelerated depreciation, or return-on-equity adders) where shared savings are impracticable, and must evaluate the incentive's necessity and efficacy 7-10 years after establishment—considering alignment with FERC Order No. 1920 on regional transmission planning—to determine whether to maintain, revise, or suspend it.

This section authorizes $2,100,000,000 for the President, acting through the Secretary of Energy, under title III of the Defense Production Act of 1950, to expand domestic manufacturing of transformers and grid components, including amorphous steel, grain-oriented electrical steel, flexible transformers, circuit breakers, switchgear and substations, and inverters and optimizers. The section also establishes a Strategic Transformer Resilience Program that (1) incorporates definitions from the Federal Power Act (FPA), including "bulk-power system," "Electric Reliability Organization," "Independent System Operator," "Regional Transmission Organization," and "State regulatory authority"; (2) directs the Secretary of Energy, not later than 18 months after enactment, to develop and submit to specified congressional committees a strategy and report identifying methods to strategically locate and facilitate transportation of large power transformers, generator step-up transformers, power conversion equipment, grain-oriented electrical steel, and other critical electric grid equipment for rapid grid restoration after physical attacks, cyberattacks, electromagnetic pulses, geomagnetic disturbances, severe weather, climate change, or seismic events—considering federally owned reserves and existing private-sector programs, and after consulting the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council, Electric Reliability Organization, manufacturers, critical infrastructure owners and operators, and military installation operators; (3) requires the Secretary to establish a resilience program to reduce equipment vulnerabilities, develop and deploy innovative and modular designs, standardize equipment with industry, monitor and test risky equipment, and facilitate domestic manufacturing through grants, loans, and technical support; and (4) applies Davis-Bacon prevailing wage requirements (i.e., subchapter IV of 40 U.S.C. ch. 31) to construction, alteration, or repair work funded under the program.

This section establishes a program to be carried out by the Secretary of Energy, not later than 180 days after enactment, to develop, expand, and support adoption of a voluntary streamlined permitting and inspection process—including an online permitting platform—for state, local, and tribal authorities having jurisdiction over qualifying distributed energy systems (i.e., residential solar photovoltaic or wind systems, batteries with at least 2 kilowatt-hours capacity, plug-in electric vehicle chargers with at least 2 kilowatts power rate, or hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle refueling equipment). The program requires the Secretary to (1) set targets for process adoption; (2) provide technical assistance and training on the process and related building codes; (3) develop a voluntary inspection protocol investigating remote inspections, sample-based inspections for high-quality installers, and platform integration; and (4) take other actions to expedite permitting, inspections, or interconnections. The section further directs the Secretary to provide technical and financial support; certify adopting authorities via existing Department of Energy programs; and award prizes to encourage adoption. This section authorizes to be appropriated $20 million to the Secretary for each of FY2027 through FY2030.

This section establishes a Department of Energy program, to be implemented within 12 months of enactment, to increase participation in community solar programs by individuals without onsite solar access (prioritizing low- and moderate-income individuals and those in energy communities), businesses, nonprofits, states, localities, and Tribes. The program requires alignment with existing federal low-income programs; technical assistance for more community solar facilities, innovative financing, and business models; and data collection by national laboratories. (As background, community solar programs allow multiple subscribers to share the output of solar facilities, reducing their electricity bills.) This section amends the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) by (1) adding a new standard to section 111(d) (16 U.S.C. 2621(d)) requiring each electric utility to offer a community solar program with equitable access for all ratepayers, including low-income ratepayers, that may include non-utility-owned facilities; (2) requiring in section 112(b) (16 U.S.C. 2622(b)) state regulatory authorities and nonregulated utilities to commence consideration of the standard within 12 months of enactment and complete it within 24 months; (3) applying enforcement procedures of section 112(c) (16 U.S.C. 2622(c)) to the new standard; and (4) exempting from those timelines and enforcement any state where, prior to enactment, the utility standard (or comparable) has been implemented, considered in a proceeding, or voted on by the legislature (adding new section 112(i) (16 U.S.C. 2622(i)) and conforming section 124 (16 U.S.C. 2634)). (As background, PURPA section 111(d) standards require state regulatory authorities and nonregulated utilities to consider and determine whether to implement them for electric utilities for which they have ratemaking authority, subject to state law, public process, and federal enforcement if deadlines are missed.) This section directs the Department of Energy to expand existing grant, loan, and financing programs to include community solar and amends 40 U.S.C. 501(b)(1)(B) to allow federal public utility service contracts for up to 30 years.

This section establishes a renewable energy grant program to be administered by the Secretary of Agriculture—not later than 180 days after enactment—under which grants may be awarded to covered entities (i.e., non-profit organizations determined eligible by the Secretary) for projects in U.S. territories (i.e., Puerto Rico, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and Northern Mariana Islands). Grant funds may be used to (1) develop or construct renewable energy systems; (2) increase energy efficiency or demand flexibility; (3) develop or construct energy storage for systems or activities under (1) or (2); (4) develop or construct smart grids or microgrids; or (5) train territory residents in such systems (prohibiting funds for fossil fuel electricity generation). The Secretary of Energy must ensure Department of Energy national laboratories offer technical assistance to grant recipients; the Secretary of Agriculture must submit reports to Congress—not later than two years after program establishment and annually thereafter—on funds disbursed, energy conserved, implementation challenges, and recommendations for renewables, resilience, energy independence, and consumer prices; and such sums as may be necessary are authorized. This section further directs the Comptroller General to conduct a study on renewable energy, energy efficiency, demand flexibility, microgrids, and resiliency potential in U.S. territories and submit a report to Congress within 180 days of enactment ($1.5 million authorized). It defines "covered entity," "Department of Energy national laboratories" (cross-referencing 42 U.S.C. 15801), "microgrid," "smart grid," and "territory of the United States," and cross-references "renewable energy" and "renewable energy system" definitions (7 U.S.C. 8101).

This section revises section 219 of the Federal Power Act to expand Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) incentives for electric transmission infrastructure. Specifically, it (1) broadens the purpose of incentive rules to include improving efficiency; (2) incorporates operational improvements, performance-based measures, other incentive mechanisms beyond return on equity (ROE), and shared savings frameworks into allowable incentives; and (3) replaces subsection (c) with new provisions for transmission organization-based ROE incentives, including up to 50 basis points for three years upon an electric utility's initial membership in a transmission organization, up to 75 basis points for regional or interregional facilities selected through transmission organization planning processes that provide demonstrable customer benefits, and up to 25 basis points for non-members' comparable facilities. (As background, section 219 directs FERC to establish incentive-based rate treatments—such as ROE adders—to ensure transmission system reliability, reduce congestion, and lower delivered power costs for consumers.) It further requires FERC, within one year of enactment, to revise its existing section 219 rule and issue a new final rule establishing a shared savings framework under which covered transmitting utilities recover a portion of verified cost savings from qualifying actions, using standardized methodologies developed in consultation with the Secretary of Energy (e.g., for baseline performance). (Thus, these changes aim to tie utility earnings more directly to measurable ratepayer benefits such as reliability, resilience, congestion relief, and cost reductions while imposing guardrails like periodic review.)

This section amends the Federal Power Act (FPA) and Natural Gas Act (NGA) to expand the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC) authority to address energy market manipulation in wholesale electric and natural gas markets (which FERC oversees to prevent fraud, undue preferences, and price manipulation). **(a) FPA amendments**—(1) adds new subsection (c) to section 316A (16 U.S.C. 825o-1) authorizing FERC to prohibit, conditionally or unconditionally, any person violating section 221 or 222 (and related rules) from engaging, directly or indirectly, in the business of purchasing or selling electric energy, electric energy products (including financial transmission rights), or transmission services subject to FERC jurisdiction; and (2) makes conforming changes to section 314(d) (16 U.S.C. 825m(d)), including expanding prohibitions from individuals to any person (from individual), limiting the bar on serving as an officer or director of a public utility to individuals (with respect to a person who is an individual), requiring prohibitions to apply directly or indirectly (adding , directly or indirectly,), and adding electric energy products (including financial transmission rights) to prohibited activities. **(b) NGA amendments**—(1) inserts new section 4B prohibiting any person from willfully and knowingly reporting false information relating to natural gas transportation, sales, prices, or facilities to a federal agency or private-sector price-reporting agency with intent to fraudulently affect compiled data; (2) adds new subsection (d) to section 22 (15 U.S.C. 717t-1) authorizing FERC to prohibit, conditionally or unconditionally, any person violating section 4A or 4B (and related rules) from engaging, directly or indirectly, in the business of purchasing or selling natural gas or transmission services subject to FERC jurisdiction; and (3) makes conforming changes to section 20(d) (15 U.S.C. 717s(d)), including expanding prohibitions from individuals to any person (from individual), limiting the bar on acting as an officer or director of a natural gas company to individuals (with respect to a person who is an individual), and requiring prohibitions to apply directly or indirectly (adding , directly or indirectly,).

This section adds two new standards to the list in Section 111(d) of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) that each state regulatory authority (for regulated electric utilities) and each nonregulated electric utility must consider and determine whether appropriate to implement through ratemaking. (As background, PURPA Section 111 requires such consideration after public notice and hearing to promote energy efficiency and resource conservation, with utilities permitted to decline implementation consistent with state law if reasons are stated in writing.) The new standards are (1) classifying large load facilities (i.e., a facility or aggregation at a single site with peak demand exceeding 75 megawatts, excluding existing facilities where increased demand results predominantly from electrification or greenhouse gas reduction measures) as a separate class of electric consumers from which utilities must fully recover all costs of grid upgrades (generation, transmission, distribution, or local facilities) needed to serve their demand, including if the facility ceases operations or uses less energy than projected; and (2) requiring utilities to prioritize service requests from large load facilities whose owners or operators commit to peak demand reduction measures (e.g., energy efficiency, onsite storage, demand response) and zero-emission electric energy (e.g., solar, wind, nuclear) generated onsite or procured via power purchase agreement within the balancing authority. (Thus, these standards aim to prevent cost shifts from large loads to other customers.) The section also adds definitions to PURPA Section 111(e); requires commencement of consideration within one year of enactment, completion of determinations within two years, and submittal of reports detailing the process and determinations to the House Energy and Commerce Committee and Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee within 30 days thereafter; and makes conforming amendments to PURPA Sections 112 and 124 to apply these timelines (with exemptions for prior state implementation, proceedings, or legislative votes on comparable standards within the prior three years).

This section requires the Secretary of Energy, in consultation with the Task Force established under subsection (c), to (1) publish, not later than two years after enactment, a baseline assessment of U.S. energy productivity (i.e., the relationship between energy inputs and economic or societal value of work performed) that defines measurement frameworks, evaluates current performance, identifies barriers, and highlights improvement opportunities at national, regional, and sectoral levels; (2) direct the Energy Information Administration (EIA) Administrator to publish, not later than six months after the baseline and quarterly thereafter, energy productivity reports coordinated with Bureau of Labor Statistics labor productivity timelines; (3) produce, not later than 18 months after enactment and every three years thereafter, a National Energy Productivity Assessment modeling economic, environmental, health, and societal impacts of accelerated improvements, policy pathways, well-being effects, action risks, and federal recommendations; and (4) submit to Congress, not later than two years after enactment, a report on how energy productivity gains affect U.S. competitiveness in manufacturing, services, and energy-intensive industries, including scenarios, investments, and policy options. The section further directs the Task Force, not later than 18 months after enactment, to develop standardized methodologies for energy indicators, including (1) national energy potential (i.e., theoretical maximum energy within U.S. geographic boundaries and Exclusive Economic Zone across all forms, such as oil/gas/coal/nuclear stocks and solar/wind/hydropower/geothermal/biomass/marine flows) and (2) technically-accessible energy potential (i.e., theoretical maximum...).

This section requires the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to mandate that each covered transmission owner annually develop, publish, and submit to FERC and the Secretary of Energy a transmission owner scorecard with standardized metrics evaluating (I) ratepayer affordability (e.g., cost of transmission services per unit of energy transmitted); (II) financing costs (e.g., capital structure, leverage ratios, returns on equity); (III) investment prudency and cost recovery (e.g., cost disallowances, cost allocation transparency); (IV) investment effectiveness (e.g., benefit-cost ratios, non-wires alternatives); (V) capital expenditure tilt (i.e., balance of capital versus operations and maintenance spending); (VI) system reliability and availability (e.g., outages, North American Electric Reliability Corporation indicators); (VII) physical system performance (e.g., losses, utilization relative to capacity); (VIII) interconnection and access fairness (e.g., timeliness for affiliated versus unaffiliated entities, where affiliated entities include those sharing ownership, subsidiaries, or joint ventures with the transmission owner); (IX) non-operational cost recovery (e.g., lobbying, penalties recovered through rates); (X) interregional and regional planning integration (e.g., interregional ties, projects under regional review); and (XI) co-location and reuse of rights-of-way (e.g., percentage of new circuit-miles).

This section requires heads of federal agencies designated under section 41002(b)(2)(B) of the FAST Act (42 U.S.C. 4370m–1(b)(2)(B))—including any invited agencies—to maintain adequate personnel capacity and expertise for timely processing of authorizations and environmental documents, including compliance with NEPA sections 107(g) and 112(a)(4) (42 U.S.C. 4336a(g) and 4336f(a)(4)). It directs each agency head to submit to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director and specified congressional committees, within 90 days of enactment, a report assessing personnel capacity by field office that includes (1) current employee numbers responsible for such processing; (2) employee numbers as of January 1, 2025; (3) employee numbers needed for NEPA compliance; (4) community engagement capacity, including Tribal consultation and language access; (5) training adequacy; and (6) a sufficiency finding. If an agency identifies insufficient personnel or training, OPM must develop and execute an implementation plan to address deficiencies. The section authorizes agency heads to certify a severe shortage or critical hiring need for covered positions (i.e., scientific, technical, engineering, mathematical, legal, or specialized roles related to timely permitting), enabling direct appointment of highly qualified individuals into the competitive service consistent with merit principles and public notice requirements, with certifications terminating after 5 years or when the need ends. It authorizes appropriations of such sums as necessary for hiring, training, technical services, equipment, and improvements in transparency, accountability, and public engagement; and defines "authorization," "covered position," and "environmental document."

This section directs the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), in consultation with specified entities, to (1) develop, publish, and iteratively update data standards for federal agency collection and curation of environmental review and authorization data within 60 days after enactment, including a standardized taxonomy and categories such as projects, processes, environmental documents, public comments, geospatial information, public engagement events, case events, and milestones; (2) design, test, and build prototype tools to support case management, application and public comment tracking portals, automated reviews and authorizations, data exchange, and accelerated complex reviews; and (3) publish guidance within 120 days after enactment on agency implementation of the data standards and specified minimum functional requirements (i.e., automated data sharing and project screening; public availability of screening criteria; case management, GIS analysis, document management, comment analysis, administrative record, and common service tools). It further requires the head of each federal agency responsible for environmental reviews or authorizations to implement the data standards and minimum functional requirements not later than 90 days after enactment. (Thus, the requirements modernize National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) processes—i.e., environmental impact statements and reviews for major federal actions—through data interoperability, workflow automation, and AI-assisted analysis to reduce redundant reviews.)

This section requires the lead agency for a proposed major Federal action to make specified NEPA documents available to the public in a searchable, digital format upon completion (or finalization, in the case of final documents) by publishing them on agency websites and uploading them to the E-NEPA online permitting portal. The documents include (1) notices of intent and scoping notices; (2) draft and final environmental assessments and findings of no significant impact; (3) draft, final, and supplemental environmental impact statements; (4) records of decision; (5) documentation for categorical exclusions; and (6) additional related documentation. Agencies must post the documents by the earlier of 3 days after completion or 3 days after Federal Register publication, and cooperating agencies must publish links to the lead agency's documents.

This section establishes community benefits agreements (CBAs) between project sponsors and CBA partners (i.e., states, local governments, Indian Tribes, labor organizations, or 501(c)(3) community benefits organizations focused on human health and environmental protection) for eligible projects, defined as the construction, modification, or operation of clean energy facilities (i.e., wind, solar, or geothermal energy generation; electricity transmission supporting such generation; or energy storage). A qualifying CBA must (1) relate to an authorization sought for the eligible project; (2) potentially disburse funds via trust or similar for social, economic, or environmental benefits to share project gains with nearby residents, offset adverse impacts, or address legacy harms; (3) commit to hiring local workforce; (4) provide educational/training opportunities if local workforce is insufficient; (5) prioritize local procurement when possible; (6) result from meaningful negotiation; (7) detail enforceable commitments with metrics, milestones, timelines, tracking, reporting, and enforcement processes; and (8) for tribal lands, be negotiated government-to-government with potential compensation for tribal legal costs. If a qualifying CBA is in place, the lead agency must prioritize completion of required NEPA environmental documents (i.e., environmental impact statements, environmental assessments, or findings of no significant impact). The section further authorizes lead agencies, upon request by a CBA partner, to provide technical assistance using neutral, culturally competent third-party providers experienced in CBAs.

This section requires the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to provide compensation to intervenors and participants in FERC proceedings through its Office of Public Participation (previously permissive under section 319(b)(2) of the Federal Power Act). (As background, the Office of Public Participation assists public interest groups in FERC regulatory proceedings such as pipeline certifications and electric transmission approvals, and intervenor funding reimburses their reasonable costs of participation.) It further directs FERC to promulgate a final rule within 180 days of enactment to implement such mandatory compensation, including a requirement for intervenors and participants to file a disclosure form of earned and unearned income to identify conflicts of interest (such form not to be overly burdensome).

This section requires the head of each federal agency required or authorized to complete an environmental document or an authorization for a major Federal action to designate one or more senior community engagement officers (SCOs) and one or more separate Tribal community engagement officers (TEOs) to oversee community and Tribal engagement in agency environmental reviews and authorizations. SCOs and TEOs must (1) advise agency heads on engagement, (2) recommend and implement improvements for early, meaningful engagement and public access to information, (3) identify and resolve conflicts to align actions with community or Tribal needs and minimize delays, (4) identify acceleration opportunities, (5) provide requested technical support and capacity building, (6) assist in developing community benefits agreements under section 704, and (7) coordinate with the Council on Environmental Quality on interagency training, data sharing, and standards; SCOs and TEOs report directly to a deputy secretary or higher, with Office of Management and Budget guidance required within two years of enactment. Agencies may appoint regional community engagement officers with comparable duties for major Federal projects. The Federal Advisory Committee Act does not apply to stakeholder engagement or public comment processes led by these officers. The section amends the FAST Act (42 U.S.C. 4370m et seq.), which coordinates environmental reviews for covered infrastructure projects, to (1) define "agency SCO," (2) include agency SCOs in dispute resolution, and (3) expand the environmental review improvement fund to facilitate early, meaningful community engagement involving agency SCOs and coordinating environmental review project officials.

This section directs the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator to make grants to states, units of local government, and Indian Tribes to increase capacity for environmental reviews, permits, consultations, and community engagement related to proposed major federal actions and renewable energy development. Grants may be used to (1) compile data, conduct analyses and planning, assess impacts, and identify mitigation opportunities; (2) coordinate with federal agencies on shared permitting information portals linked to systems under section 702; (3) identify and minimize redundancies in permitting requirements; (4) enhance community engagement in environmental reviews; (5) identify zones for renewable energy development; (6) facilitate siting of renewable energy facilities and infrastructure; (7) establish local zoning ordinances promoting renewable energy; and (8) train and hire personnel. It authorizes $500 million for each of FY2026 through 2031.